Walk Away to Win: A Playbook to Combat Workplace Bullying

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As You Think About Walking Away

Don’t go away mad; just go away.

—NEIL EVERETT MORFITT

The chance that your bully is going to change is slim. For some of us, HR intervention is a plausible and effective solution, or at least the preferred initial strategy; for others, an effective HR response is less likely. The chance that leadership will do the right thing is frequently zero. So where do you put your hope?

You put your hope in yourself, not in the circumstances of your workplace. It feels like there’s a fourth F to the fight, flight, or freeze scenario. The fourth F is “face it.” Find your way. Figure it out. Forge your own path. OK, that’s more than four, but you get the idea.

As you contemplate your best move—and whether you ultimately ...